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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0106.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT EVA to replace 767s with A330s BRENT HANNON/TAIPEI LONG-TIME Boeing cus tomer EVA Airways has concluded deals for up to eight Airbus A330-200 twinjets, instead of an order for the rival Boeing 767-400ER. The Taiwanese private airline has an agreement to purchase two A3 3 0-2 00s and take another six on operating lease. The deal is expect ed to be finalised by April. Deliveries of the General Electric CF6-80E1-powered aircraft will begin in March 2 003, and probably extend through 2005, depending on final arrangements with the leasing companies. GE Capital Aviation Services is believed to be the source of the leased aircraft. EVA operates eight 767s - four Boeing 767-200s and four 767- 300ERs - all of which will be retired as the new Airbuses arrive. The 261-seat A330s will be deployed on Asian routes. The air craft will be the airline's first Airbuses. An earlier deal for up to 12 A340s was dropped in 1998. NEWS IN BRIEF • PAKISTAN UPRATED The US Federal Aviation Administration has uprated Pakistan's overall aviation safety programme. Pakistan previously failed to comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation safety standards. A recent reassess ment, however, gave Pakistan passing marks. Cambodian start-up goes international ROYAL PHNOM Penh Airways has launched its first international services, operating three weekly flights from the Cambodian capital to Bangkok. Operating two Yakovlev Yak-42 trijets, the airline plans to add services to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam this month, and is also eyeing Singapore and Chinese cities. Domestic operations started in October, flying from Phnom Penh to Battambang, Koh Kong, Mondulkiri, Rattankiri, Siem Reap and Stung Treng. The airline is owned by chair man Prince Norodom Chak- rapong, the son of Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk. It enters the market at a time of increasing competition for nation al carrier Royal Air Cambodge from recent arrivals Siem Reap Airways International and President Airlines. ^1 With EVA deriving nearly 45% of its revenue from cargo, EVA senior vice president K W Nieh says that the A330-200's larger cargo hold was a key factor in its selection over the 767 in spite of hard lobbying by the US manufac turer. "The cargo hold can accom-. modate the same increments as our Boeing 747-400s," he says. The A330-200's larger size and longer range combined with the discount on offer from Airbus also swayed the decision, says Nieh. Despite high fuel prices, EVA has twice increased its profit forecast for 2000, most recently projecting a pre-tax profit of NTS2.5 billion ($78 million) on revenues of NTS54.4 billion. Bookings remain strong through the January 21-28 Chinese New Year holiday, a traditional peak period, but are weak after that, says Nieh. Taiwan's economy is slow ing, and its stock market has fallen more than 50% since March 2000, a combination that usually reduces consumer spending on discre tionary items like travel. • BAC set to fill the gap left by Balkan's decline PAUL DUFFY/MOSCOW BULGARIAN AIR Charter (BAC) launched operations last month, serving inclusive tour flights to Bulgaria. The airline has been set up by Bulgarian, German and Russian partners, and will serve tour opera tors in various European countries including the UK and Germany. It also plans to operate to India. Two Tupolev Tu-154Ms have been taken on lease from Moscow- based Vnukovo Aviation Overhaul Factory "VARZ". The mainte nance company has a fleet of aircraft taken in for overhaul which, due to declining Russian traffic, it is now offering for short and long term leases. By the time that its summer season is in full swing, BAC aims to have eight aircraft in service. They will all be equipped with Stage 3 hushkits and mandatory avionics to permit operations in Western Europe, including aircraft collision avoidance systems, reduced verti cal separation minima and RNAV equipment. The aircraft will also have new interiors, including oxygen systems, improved seating and overhead bins to cater for the Western market. With the rundown of Bulgaria's national airline - Balkan Bulgarian Airlines (which is majority owned by Israel's Zeevi group) - BAC is understood to have the support of the government. Many of Balkan's staff and management have trans ferred to the new carrier, and some of the national airline's route licenses are expected to be trans ferred to BAC in the near future.• BAC's Tu-154 fleet will grow to eight aircraft by the middle of the year ADS-B operations go live within Alaska ASYSTEM of air traffic control aircraft (ATC) surveillance using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) instead of radar went live on 1 January in a remote part of Alaska, the US federal Aviation Admin istration has confirmed. Surveillance by ADS-B is part of the FAAs Capstone safety initiative and the National Airspace System modernisation programme. This entails making use of the GPS satellite navigation system to provide ATC with aircraft position information. During inflight trials conducted last year, 150 Bethel- based general aviation (GA) air craft were equipped with a $ 12,000 avionics package, putting weather, terrain and traffic information in GA cockpits for the first time. Each aircraft broadcasts its posi tion via a digital datalink along with data such as airspeed, altitude and track direction. The ADS-B data transmissions are fed into the air traffic management system via ground-based transceivers, and are linked ,via telephone line and satel lite, to the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center where data is displayed on controllers' screens. An FAA group has concluded that "the ADS-B reported posi tions displayed appear to be as good as or better than the Anchorage radar data for deter mining position, speed and direc tion of flight." • 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 January 2001
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